Wire-twisting tool.



F. E. BEAM.

I WIRE TWISTING TOOL. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. ms.

1 28%,99@u Patented No v. 19 191&

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FRANK E. BEAM, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO BATES VALVE B AG- COMPANY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

WIRE-TWISTING TOOL.

specification of letters Patent. Patented Nov. 39, 1918.

Application filed February 28, 1916. Serial No. 79,899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. BEAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Twisting Tools; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to tools for twisting the ends of wire bag-ties about each other after the tie has been looped around the mouth of the bag to be tired, and, especially to that class of such tools in which the looped or enlarged ends of the tie are engaged with One or more hooks or.other en gaging means mounted at the Outer extremity of an elongated shank or spindle having a thread or spiral roove which is engaged by a handle which slides to and fro on the spindle, thus causing the spindle to rotate. In some of these tools are employed hooks spaced considerably apart at opposite sides of the end of the spindle and which can only be used-in connection with wire ties having open loops at their opposite ends. In other tools of this class, such, for instance, as were patented to me by U. S. Letters Patent dated May 21, 1912, No. 1,027 ,097, the Spindle is provided with a head in which, at opposite sides of the end of the spindle, are narrow slots which receive the Wire and engage small headsformed on the ends of the'wire tie. The object in such devices of having the hooks or slots spaced apart is to so spread the ends of the twisted tie that they may be easily untwisted by the hand. The objections to the former construction referred to are that the tie having the necessary loops for the hooks requires too much wire and such tie does not lend itself to use as a fastening device for ordinary shipping tags. The objection to both forms referred to is that by reason of the ends of the wire tie being spread so far apart during the twisting operation undue muscular force is required to pull the handle of the tool along the twisted spindle.

The object of my invention is to obviate the ob ect1on here pointed out, and more particularly to furnish a wire-tie twisting .ture,but in such relation that they may be readily separated for untwisting.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side-elevation of my device, showing the head of the tool in central longitudinal section; Fig. 2, a plan-view of the same, showing the head at a right angle to the view in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, the same, showing the head in transverse section with a twisted wire tie in place; Fig. 4:, an end elevation of the heads shown in the previous figures; Fig. 5, a rear end-view of the tool, with the spindle or shank hereinafter referred toin cross-section; Fig. 6, a sideelevation of an alternative or modified form of my device with the head-thereof partly in central longitudinal section and with a wire tie in place ready for twisting, and Fig. 7, a top-plan view of the same.

Like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 is a spirally threaded or channeled spindle. 2 is a handle centrally and longitudinally bored for the reception of the spindle. The handle which slides upon the spindle is engaged by any suitable means,as for instance, at 3, in Fig. 5,- with the spiral of the spindle so that the reciprocation ofthe handle rotates the spindle. The forward end of the spindle is provided with a head, elongated in the direction of the length of the tool. The head has centrally and lengthwise thereof a narrow slot 4 leading from the top, and which coincides substantially with the axis of the tool. The slot is of barely suflicient width to receive lengthwise a wire of suitable gage for a wire bag-tie. This tie, 5, consists of a piece of wire of suitable length having at each end a head or enlarged portion 6. When the ends of this piece of wire are brought together to form a loop or bight, the ends may be slipped into the slot 4, one end lying above the other, with the heads 6 abutting against the inner edges of the slot. The puckered or folded mouth of a bag being embraced by the bight or loop of the tie and the handle being at its forward position, as illustrated in the drawings, asharp pull upon the handle will cause the spindle to revolve, carrying the heads of the tie with it and causmg the ends of the tie to twine around each other as illustrated in Fig. 3. In order that the twist in the wire shall not approach too nearly to the heads of the tie and thus mterfere with the ready untwisting of the t1e, the inner face of the head of the tool,that is the side nearest the operator,forms an abutment a and is spaced from the outer face of the head of the tool, forming abutment b,

it being obvious that the twist in the wire can not extend into the slot 4. The twist being completed as described, a slight push upon the tool will disengage the tool from the tie. The untwisted end-portions of the tie are of suflicient length and possess sufficient ductility to permit them to be spread apart to afford a hold for untwisting the tie or to permit one end of the tie to be unwound from around the other end. This separation of the untwisted ends of the tie is facilitated by one of the heads of the completed tie being positioned slightly in advance of the other head of the tie when the twist is completed. This may be accomplished by slightly sloping the inner face of the head,--abutment a,as illustrated in Fig. 1, or by forming a slight socket at the inner end of the slot 4, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in section in Fig. 3. However, the heads of the tie tend to fall with the top head slightly overlapping and in advance of the lower one when the ends of the tie are slipped into the slot. The tie thus formed with one of the heads slightly protruding may be most conveniently untwisted by a simple pressure of the thumb upon the advanced head, which causes this portion of the wire to bend outwardly at the point.

where the twist begins thus forming a tiny handle. Now. the wire end so bent may be readily unwrapped from'around the opposite wire end.

The result just described may be obtained by the modification of my device illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 in which 7 is a stud projecting angularly from the spindle 1. Back of and close to the outer extremity of the spindle is a pin 8 projecting in alinement with the stud 7 ,the stud, the pin, and the axis of the spindle lying in a common plane. The stud is provided with the slot 4. The inner face of the stud furnishesthe abutment a and the outer face of the pin serves as the abutment b, preventing the twisting of the tie too close to the heads of the tie,

that is to say, whereas in Figs. 1 and 2 I have an elongated head of such length that the twist in the tie may start right at the end of the head and still leave enough of the tie untwisted to make it easy for the operator to disengage the tie; while in the device of Figs. 6 and 7, if I did not use the pin 8, the tie would be twisted so near to the end that the operator could not readily disengage it. I refer to the abutments a and Z) in Figs. 1 and 2 as limiting the untwisted length of tie. The left-hand side of the stud 4 and the right-hand side of the pin 8 may be understood as having the same effect, that is, the untwisting length of the tie is that part between the right-hand of the pin 8 .and the left-hand of the stud 4. The abutment a of the stud may be inclined or stepped, as at 9, so that when the ends of the tie are slipped into the slot the heads of the tie will, when the twisting takes place,

be drawn into position with one head'in advance of the other, as illustrated and with the advantages indicated.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mechanism for twisting wire ties,

a spindle, means for rotating the spindle, a

member carried by and projecting from the spindle and having therein a narrow slot disposed 1n substantially axial alinement with the spindle and adapted to receive and en- 2. A wire twisting tool comprising a rotatable spindle, wire engaging means carried :by the. spindle and adapted to receive and engage the superposed free end portions of a wire loop in parallel relation, the arrange ment being such that the rotation of the spindle causes the twisting together of other portions of such loop, and means which space the alined extremities of such loo apart in the direction of their length.

3. In a wire twisting tool, a rotatable spindle, at the outer extremity of the spindle a radially disposed pin, a centrally slotted stud mounted upon the spindle in alinement with the pin, such slot being of barely sufficient width to receive the superposed ends of a wire loop, and means for rotating the spindle.

4. In a tool for twisting the endsvof a looped wire tie about each other, a rotatable. spindle, a pin mounted at the forward end of the spindle, and a slotted stud mounted upon to engage the ends of such tie one in advance of the other.

5. In a tool of the described character, a rotatable spindle, devices carried by the spindle for receiving the superposed end portions of a Wire tie and for holding such end portions against twisting, such devices including means for engaging the extremities of the tie one in advance of the other in the direction of the length of the spindle, and means for rotating the spindle.

6. In a tool for twisting wire ties, a rotatable spindle, at the outer end of the spindle a pin, wire engaging means mounted upon the. spindle, said pin and said engaging 15 means affording spaced alined abutments which limit the untwisted end portions of such tie to suitable lengths for manual untwisting, and means for rotating the spindle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 20 in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK E. BEAM.

Witnesses:

G. H. FAIs'r, GERTRUDE BRACKER. 

